Remembrance
by BubblyShell22
Summary: September ll, 2001 was a day anyone would remember. Now, the Hamato family reflects on that day and the years to come. Side fic in the Forever Family Series


Remembrance

A/N: I just thought of this fic yesterday, and thought I'd put it up. It's a 9/11 tribute fic and talks about how the Turtles and my OCs felt during that day and the years to come. It'll take place in 2001, then 2006 (a little after "Forever Family"), then 2012 (when "Growing Up Is Hard To Do" takes place). I really hope that you enjoy this fic. Feel free to leave a review once you've finished reading.

Disclaimer: The TMNT and all related characters are property of Nickelodeon Studios. I only own the characters not associated with TMNT.

September 11, 2001

The day started off like any other day. The orphans got up, ate breakfast, and got ready for school as they always did. Lisa, Destiny, and Mariel said goodbye to Kaylee and Kaia, promising to tell them all about their day when they were done. Kaylee and Kaia didn't want them to go, but they knew the girls had to. So while the girls were gone, Kaylee and Kaia went to the recreation room where Mrs. Jenner was watching The Today Show. Then they suddenly broke in for a news bulletin and stated that the World Trade Center had been hit by a plane.

Meanwhile, at school, Lisa and the others were in class when they received the news that the World Trade Center had been hit with a plane. School had been cancelled, and the girls were told to head home. Lisa met Destiny and Mariel in the main hallway and accompanied them back to the orphanage.

"What's happened?" Mariel asked. "My teacher said the World Trade Center was hit by something, but I didn't catch what."

"It was hit by a plane," Lisa replied. She was a little worried and confused. How could a plane just hit the World Trade Center? Had the driver fallen asleep, or had they had a heart attack? It just didn't make sense.

When they arrived at the orphanage, they saw that the television was filled with pictures of the damaged building. People were panicking in the streets, and the rescue teams were out in full force. Then, as they watched, another plane hit the Twin Towers head on. Lisa could tell that something wasn't right. Two planes didn't just hit like that. They were under attack.

"Whoa!" Destiny cried. "Did you see that? How could that happen?"

"I think someone's trying to attack us," Lisa told her. Even at ten years old, Lisa knew that things like this just didn't happen by accident. It didn't make sense that two planes just happened to hit one building hours apart like that.

"Why?" Kaylee asked as she and Kaia approached them. "Why would someone do that?"

Lisa shook her head. "I don't know," she said softly.

"Look, Litha!" Kaia said with her lisp. "They jumping!" She pointed to where people were jumping out of the flaming building.

Kaylee was worried. "Why do they do that?" she asked.

"To get away from the flames and escape," Destiny replied.

"This is awful," Mariel whispered. "How could someone do this?"

Lisa didn't answer. She had no idea why anyone would do this to a building and kill people. She knew that many lives would be lost that day. They kept watching until one of the towers collapsed, and then she turned the younger kids away from it. "Let's go upstairs," she said. "We don't need to watch this."

"Do you think people will be okay?" Kaylee asked.

"I doubt it," Destiny answered. "I'm sure there's gonna be a ton of casualties from this mess."

"Destiny!" Lisa admonished, shooting her friend a warning look. "You don't say that in front of little kids like that!"

"But it's true," Destiny replied. "There's no way everyone in that building survived, especially now that the building's collapsed." They could hear gasps and cries that the second tower had collapsed.

"I just can't believe this would happen to us," Lisa said. "I thought we were invincible from this."

"Well, we aren't," Destiny said.

That night, they saw the President make his speech about the attacks, and the next day they saw him arrive at Ground Zero to survey the damage. None of them wanted to see this happen. The biggest question that any of them had was, "Why?" Why would someone want to attack them? What had they done wrong? All they knew was that this was going to be a day everyone would remember as the years went on. It was a day that Lisa realized would be with everyone no matter whether they were close to a family member who had died, or just saw the attacks unfold. She just hoped that one day they'd find out who did this and bring them to justice.

22222

The Turtles got up like they always did and ate their breakfast. Donatello sat in the living room and watched The Today Show like he always did every morning. Mikey and Raph teased that the only reason he watched it was because he thought Katie Couric was hot. Don denied this and said it was because he really cared about what was going on in the world.

"Yeah, sure, Donnie," Raph teased. "Whatever."

The others ate breakfast in the kitchen and started talking about what they were going to do today until Don's cry alerted them that something was wrong. The Turtles and Splinter hurried to his side.

"What is wrong, my son?" Splinter asked him.

"A plane just hit the World Trade Center," Don replied. He pointed to the images of the plane hitting the building.

"Dude, that guy must've been drunk," Mikey joked. "Planes just don't hit a building like that."

"Mikey, this isn't funny!" Leo chastised. "People could be hurt in there."

"Maybe we should help them," Mikey suggested.

"Mikey, we're ninjas," Raph told him. "What can we do?"

"We can save lives," Mikey replied. "It's the honorable thing to do, right, Sensei?" He looked pleadingly at his master to see if he'd give them the okay to head down there.

"Yes, it is an honorable and noble thing to do," Splinter began. "But you must remember that humans will not understand what you are. They could very well take you to science laboratories where you would be tested and dissected. I understand that you want to help, my son, but it is not possible to do so. Let the humans take care of it for now."

Mikey wasn't happy with the answer, but he knew he couldn't disobey his father. They all watched as another plane hit the towers in a burst of flame.

"Now, that can't be right," Raph said. "It's gotta be a setup."

"You mean, someone's just blatantly attacking us?" Leo asked incredulously. "Why the shell would they do that?"

Raph shrugged his shoulders. "Don't know, but I hope they pay for this," he growled.

They continued to watch the images during the day: The towers collapsing, people jumping out of the buildings in an effort to escape, rescue workers carrying the injured and the dead. It just didn't make sense that someone so heartless would want to do this. Why were humans so cruel to each other? The Turtles realized that though they couldn't help on that day, they could help in the future no matter what. If someone was in trouble, they'd be there to help out. It was the honorable thing to do in such a world full of dishonor. They knew Splinter wouldn't understand their desire, but he would know they were doing it for the good of the city.

22222

September 11, 2006

The Hamato family woke up on the fifth anniversary of the September eleventh attacks and remembered what happened on that day. They talked about how they had felt and the questions they'd had while it happened. Kaia was too young to really remember much, but when she was told the details, she felt sick about it. How could anyone do that? What sort of evil mind would allow such a thing to happen?

That day there was a memorial on the site of the attacks, but the girls couldn't go because of school. Still, they watched it on TV and mourned the loss of those who died. The Turtles were also affected and thought about what they could have done that day. If they could've helped, maybe more people would have survived. When Mikey voiced this thought, Leo said, "It's not our fault, Mikey. We were only thirteen and weren't fully trained yet. There's nothing we could have done."

"I know, but it still sucks to think about it," Mikey replied.

"I know how you feel, bro," Raph said, putting a reassuring hand on Mikey's shoulder. "I wish I could take that idiot and beat him into a pulp. This guy makes the Shredder sound like a thoughtful man."

Don said nothing but thought about that day. How horrible it had to be for those with lost loved ones. It just wasn't fair that such horrible things had to happen in the world.

Splinter decided not to have practice that day, so when the girls came home, they just did homework and talked to their brothers. At dinner, they talked more about how they felt during that day and what they felt could be done to prevent something like this from happening again. Later that night, they headed out on patrol and stopped at the place where the Twin Towers used to stand. They observed a moment of silence before moving on and finishing their patrol. It didn't seem like much, but it was all they could do.

222222

September 11, 2012

Lisa woke up in her dorm and sighed. Today was the eleventh anniversary of the attacks that changed their lives forever. Lisa felt sorry for her roommate, Mindy, who lost an uncle in the attack. She couldn't believe that someone who was close to her now had been affected by the tragedy. When it first happened, she'd been sad about the families who had lost loved ones, but she hadn't known anyone who had. She'd often wondered whether her father was in that tragedy or whether he was still alive. She didn't know much about her birth parents, but it often weighed on her mind that it could've happened to her parents as well. She gave Mindy a hug and talked to her, trying to cheer her up. Mindy was always sad on this day, though Lisa understood why. It was a sad day for everyone. That day, she and Mindy went to the memorial at the World Trade Center to honor her uncle and all those who had died.

Destiny was in Florida, but she remembered this day as well as anyone. They had a special assembly to honor those who had died in the attack. Destiny's roommate, Tamika, had lost her brother in the attacks. He'd been a fireman who'd gone up to rescue people in one of the towers. It just made Destiny feel worse than she had before about all of this. It just wasn't fair that people had to die because of some sick man. Granted, now that man was dead, but she knew the war was far from over. Such things would still happen because of sick people in this world. That's one of the reasons Destiny chose the career she did. If she could just stop all of this before it started, maybe things would get better for them. It was a start.

Mariel, Kaylee, and Kaia also went to the memorial with their classmates. It was a solemn day and a day for reflection. While the one responsible for the attacks was dead, they knew that there would always be someone to take his place and continue these attacks. All of them had faced the reality that bad things do happen to good people and that life isn't full of sunshine and rainbows all the time. This attack proved that. But the girls knew that they could still make a difference and that they would along with their brothers. They'd do whatever it took to make sure people wouldn't do this again.

That night, the Turtles, Mariel, Kaylee, and Kaia went on patrol and stopped at the site of the attacks for another moment of silence. Kaia felt sad that Lisa and Destiny couldn't be here, but they had class. Still, they were there in spirit, and that was just as important.

"So much has changed since that day," Kaia reflected. "We were changed on that day. I just wish that there was something good in this world to offset the bad in it."

Leo put a hand on his sister's shoulder. "There is," he said. "That's where we come in. We're here to put a stop to the bad in the world. We may not be able to stop everything bad from happening, but we can do our best."

Kaia nodded, realizing the truth of her brother's words. Bad things may happen in the world, but as long as there were good people to lend a hand, the world would still keep on turning. Yes, America wasn't invincible from attack, but as long as there were people to fight for their country, everything would be okay.

When Lisa and Destiny came home for the summer, they headed to the site of the attacks for a moment of silence. They clasped hands and reminded each other that they were a family and would always be one no matter what. No terrorist attack or evil plot would change that, and they were all comforted in the fact that they had each other. They would prevail just as America would prevail, and they would rally together to stop evil in its tracks. That was what they were taught to do, and they would do so to honor Yoshi and all those who died due to evil.

A/N: Maybe not the best ending, but it was the best I could come up with. Please feel free to review and let me know what you think. This fic is dedicated to those who lost their lives on that fateful day and to those who lost loved ones on that day. It'll be a day we'll never forget, but we just need to remember that while bad things do happen in this world, we all have each other to lean on, and that's important.


End file.
